Schools – elementary schools, preschools, child care programs, nursery schools, private schools, charter schools - all have an important role to play in helping children who are moving up! from one early grade to the next. Communication with families, other professionals and the community will help each child get off to the best start in his new grade. Together we can make a difference!

BoardMath®

Media in the Classroom

Kindergarten

Administrators

Diverse Learners

Pre-Kindergarten

First Grade

Early Math

Transitional Kindergarten

Second Grade

The Early Ed Alignment PuzzleDefinition of alignmentnoun

arrangement in a straight line, or in correct or appropriate relative positions: the tiles had slipped out of alignment

a position of agreement or alliance: a firm famous for its liberal alignment

Want to whet your appetite? Check out this diagram from the guide, p. 17, which shows you how these resources line up."How do the DRDP, Learning Foundations and Kindergarten Common Core Standards align?", you ask. How indeed! Thanks to our very own Kathleen Lincoln, Child Development Centers Program Director, we have a handy two page reference - click here to check it out."But what about old-school alignment? How do the DRDP, Learning Foundations and Kindergarten Content Standards compare?", you ask. Great question! Check out Kathleen Lincoln's handy two page reference to see the olden-timey cross correlations -here.

Get Outside and Learn!Are you interested in enriching your curriculum in an effective, fun, and low-cost way? Do you want to see your students become healthier, more relaxed, more focused and ready for deeper learning? The answer is simple! Get your students outside for some natural learning in the natural world. The Children and Nature Networkcan help! Check out this site for lots of great ideas, research, strategies and activities to incorporate more nature into your day. Click here to take a look at the Natural Teacher Network’s (NTN) eGuide – a handy resource for teachers Pre-K through High School - including 10 Reasons To Take Your Students Outside and much, much more!The Outdoor Classroom Projectis another essential resource for teachers who want to bring the learning outside. This excellent website has a lot of pictures, ideas and resources to help early educators combine indoor and outdoor curriculum. Want to learn more? Watch this seven minute video (below) and see what the outdoor classroom concept is all about!

Connecting TeachersLooking to connect with other teachers? Want to get some fresh ideas for your grade level? Interested in reviewing some lesson plan ideas? Here are some websites that can help!A to Z Teacher StuffA site devoted to all stuff teacher! Here is what they say, “A to Z Teacher Stuff is a teacher-created site designed to help teachers find online resources more quickly and easily. Find lesson plans, thematic units, teacher tips, discussion forums for teachers, downloadable teaching materials & eBooks, printable worksheets and blacklines, emergent reader books, themes, and more.”Edutopia – What Works in EducationAnother excellent resource, this site funded by the George Lucas Educational Foundation offers a wealth of information including grade level content, blogs, core strategies, videos, community groups and examples of schools that work. Visit today!PinterestThis interesting site permits members to access virtual bulletin boards. You can search by topic or grade level to see some innovative pictures – a fun way to get some new ideas.ProTeacherA community of elementary and middle school teachers and other professionals working in grades PreK-8. This free-to-sign-up site features teacher forums by grade level and resources for a wide variety of topics such as teaching practices, classroom management, child development, shared leadership, reading and language arts, humanities, social studies, mathematics and science and technology. Check it out!TeachHUBTeachHUB provides K-12 teachers with free lesson plans, education articles, teaching tips, recommendations and professional development resources.Teachers.NetThis is a huge, busy site that hosts 4500+ free lesson plans, searchable teacher job listings, 150+ social networking forums, teacher articles, educational resources, and a lot, lot more.The Teacher’s Corner.netThis site is free and does not require a membership. You can access a broad range of content, including lesson plans, online collaboration projects for students, bulletin board patterns, daily writing prompts, pen pal service, teacher forums and much more.

CPAA in the CDCSChildren‘s Progress Academic Assessment – CPAA – has been a component of individual assessment in many of MUSD’s primary classrooms for a number of years. Guess what? This year marks the first complete school year that we will be also using the CPAA Pre-K component in the Rose and Sunnyhills Child Development Centers! We are very excited to be implementing this child-friendly assessment tool. We anticipate that CPAA use will help us to further explore early math and reading acquisition, to refine our understanding of each child’s current knowledge and to enhance our lesson planning and curriculum.We are pleased to partner with our Elementary School teachers who currently use CPAA and we look forward to our rising Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten students entering the 2013-2014 school year with enhanced general computer skills and specific CPAA experience – helping ease their moving up! transitions.

Healthy Habits Here We Come!Are you hungry for some nutrition resources for the children in your class? Want some help teaching about healthy habits and quality food choices? The UCCE (University of California Cooperative Extension – Santa Clara County) can help! Visit their website here and learn more about their programs for teachers just like you! Their classroom support for teachers covers grades Pre-K through twelfth and includes: “research-based, fun, easy-to-use nutrition, gardening, and physical activity curriculum, nutrition lessons linked to Content Standards for California Public Schools, teacher training, and UCCE staff to assist in delivery of lessons in the classroom.”

Hands-on Education Starts at RAFTOur local Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT) is a treasure trove of resources for teachers. Educators may join RAFT for a small annual membership fee and then receive access to a whole host of products and services such as: shopping for materials at the warehouse, using the green room prep-equipment, attending workshops and receiving curriculum support. Visit the RAFT homepage to learn more about the unique RAFT model - businesses donate materials and teachers reap the benefits. You never know what you will find at RAFT!Not only does RAFT offer tons of hands-on materials at very, very reasonable prices in their warehouse but they also have so much online. Want to shop for ready-made kits, access online idea sheets, read some useful tips or catch up on a math blog? RAFT has it all! Here are some links below to get you started…Educational Kits~ each kit comes with materials for the hands-on project, curriculum topics list, number of students served, recommended grade level and idea sheet. Some of the kits even feature an online video giving you ideas and suggestions on how to use the kit.Kit Supplies~ order your replacement items or make a unique kit of your own.Educational Publications~ need some concrete ideas for using common everyday objects to teach math and science? Check out the RAFT publications for books such as “Science and Math with Office Supplies.”RAFT Blogs~ find out what the RAFT staff is thinking about... examples of blog subjects include:Integrated Learning - An Education Elixir?RAFT and Common Core, andThird Grade Ventures in Project Based ReportsTip Sheets~ we can all use some helpful tips now and again. Check out RAFT’s handy hands-on tip sheets for topics such as:Assessing Learning during Hands-On ActivitiesClassroom Management During a Hands-On ActivityCommon Core Assessment – Hands-On Style!Easy and Fun Math Night ProjectsIdea Sheets~ take some common everyday objects, add in some curriculum topics, sprinkle in a subject, toss in some instructions and voila! You have a handy idea sheet to support your classroom instruction in a concrete, hands-on fashion. RAFT offers over 650 idea sheets – and they are searchable by grade, subject and keyword. Never be at a loss for a fun, relevant hands-on activity again. To get a sense of the sheer volume of activity sheets available, take a look at this handy chart which maps RAFT idea sheets onto the math common core standards by grade.

Labeling for a Print Rich EnvironmentInquiring minds want to know - what is a Print Rich Environment, anyway?! According to the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill California Treasures Reading Program, Glossary of Common Terms, the definition of a print rich environment is “an environment in which students are provided many opportunities to interact with print and an abundance and variety of printed materials are available and accessible. Students have many opportunities to read and be read to. In such an environment reading and writing are modeled by the teacher and used for a wide variety of authentic everyday purposes.”One time-consuming, but important component of a print rich environment is tagging the common, everyday classroom items with written labels indicating the name of the object. The more the children in the class can see the written word being associated with the concrete object, the more reinforced the connection becomes between print and the real world. In addition to which, if the cubbies and cabinets are labeled with the word and the picture of the item which belongs there – it makes clean up a snap! A place for everything, everything in its place…But, this takes precious teacher time to label the whole room - and the labels frequently need to be replaced! Don’t fear, there is a free(!) website that can help. Visit Environments, Inc. and click on the Resources tab from the top menu. You will find the “Just for Me” Label Maker as well as the Environments Resource Library. The Label Maker resource hosts a variety of label and sign templates with a broad range of classroom materials photos and is fully customizable – plus there is a prepared document ready to print with common everyday classroom labels in English and Spanish. Just print out the pages, cut and affix to the objects in your room. Voila! Print rich environment!Want to learn more about classroom labeling? Environments, Inc. also offers a handy Staff Training Aid. Click here (select Staff Training Aids then scroll to the last article) to take a peek at the whys and wherefores of labeling – and how different kinds of labels will make your classroom environment speak for itself!

​The Governing Board is committed to equal opportunity for all individuals in education. District programs, activities, and practices shall be free from discrimination based on race, color, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or genetic information; the perception of one or more of such characteristics; or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. The Board shall promote programs which ensure that discriminatory practices are eliminated in all district activities. (BP 0410)